Howdy mathematicians! Hope you’ve learned lots and got your heart rate up. This is PE is the New Math checking in one last time. Over the course of this blog, we’ve learned:

• What is physical literacy, and why do we care? – this section looks at the importance of physical literacy skills and the development of these skills at a young age as well as how they can benefit the kids in your life
• We interviewed a local teacher and learned about her unique way of incorporating physical activity into her classroom every day! Check out this blog post to donate to this fun and innovative program.
• We looked at the experience of girls in sports through examining statistics from The Rally Report and interviewing girls in kindergarten, grade 5, and high school.
• On top of the importance of physical activity and academic success, we also looked at how exercise helps promote mental wellbeing via manufacturing all the good brain juices.
• We also looked at how an indigenous perspective can be considered in your PE class through use of the medicine wheel, and by implementing some fun indigenous games that are relevant to your local nation.

Now for the big challenge. What do we do now? Well hopefully, if you’ve followed along this far, you understand how important it is to get kids up and moving whether you’re a parent, teacher, coach, administrator, or just anyone with a passion for sports. This brings me to my two summary questions:

• How do you incorporate physical activity in to your classroom?
• How do you get your kids involved in sports at a young age?

This post acknowledges the barriers around this that are highlighted throughout this blog, and gives some suggestions on how to overcome these barriers.

Physical activity and the classroom:

With so much demand coming from parents, principles, the curriculum and your students, it may seem impossible to incorporate anymore movement in your classroom. Of course, if you’ve been following, it is more crucial now than ever that we get kids up and moving. Here are a few strategies I’d suggest:

• Implement Brain breaks into your schedule throughout the day. Brain breaks are 5 to 10min long themed videos that get kids moving. themes vary from Roblox, to Inside Out, to Mario and many more. There are countless videos available for free on You Tube and it even gives you, the teacher, some time to transition into your next lesson. These short clips would be the perfect way to start your morning or to introduce movement throughout the day. I’ve attached some of my favorites below:

• Make your PE class fun, engaging, and as accessible as possible. Every child needs to move. If your PE lesson doesn’t fit the abilities of everyone in your class you must ADAPT.
• Get outside. While the classrooms are very useful for keeping kids organized and providing a warm dry space to learn, us humans were not engineered to be inside nearly as much as we are. There are significant deficiency’s that we suffer the more we are stuck inside and sometimes the best classroom management skill is getting out of the classroom.
• If a lesson doesn’t have to be done with the kids seated in one place, then don’t! Just by simply weaving bits of movement into your daily lessons will make a difference.

Kids sports at home:

Of course, we all face different challenges whether its with finances, schedules, or other life demands, but even at home it is our job as parents to ensure our kids are getting the physical activity they need. Here are just a few ways that you can get your kid involved in sports:

First, is the issue of finances. Money is always a factor and unfortunately kids are expensive. Luckily, there are a variety of non-profit programs that you can both donate to and apply for grants from that will fund your child in sports! here is a little more on one of my favorites:

So now that we’ve figured out the finical side of things, what sports do we even put our kids into? In post 2 – what is physical literacy – we learned that the more a kid does, the better their physical literacy. So, sign them up for it all! Having kids involved in as many sports as possible at a young age drastically increases their chances of remaining active throughout their life. Here are just a few local clubs that provide sports and activities for kids aged 3 – 18:

• Rugby – The Rocky Mountain Rogues provide Rookies Rugby for kids aged 4 – 14. this NON-CONTACT rugby program is inclusive and safe, and gets kids involved in the sport by teaching them the basics so they can have fun and create life long friends and memories.
• Soccer – The East Kootenay Soccer Association (KEYSA) provides both an indoor fall league and an outdoor spring league. Their mission is “To promote, develop, and facilitate the game of soccer for all players regardless of gender, age and ability.” Their house league is a non-competitive league designed for kids aged 3 – 16 and their rep league is a competitive program for kids aged 9 – 18. Kids Sports Eligible.
• Baseball – Cranbrook Minor League Baseball offers softball and baseball leagues in the spring. Their mission: To promote the game of Baseball / Softball in a fair and equal manner to all involved by encouraging all players to develop and enhance the Baseball / Softball skills through FAIR PLAY, SPORTSMANSHIP, TEAM PLAY, CITIZENSHIP, RESPONSIBILITY & COMMITMENT, and QUALITY COACHING. The nice thing about working with Cranbrook Minor League Baseball and KEYSA is they both use the program RAMP for their registration, so if you make an account with one, you’re all set to register for the other! Kids Sports Eligible.
• Climbing – Arq Mountain Center provides a variety of afterschool programing starting with dynostars – a preschool based program for kids 3-5 – going all the way up to Summit – a non-competitive program for kids in grade 7 and up. They also offer Arq Angles, a girls only program for grade 7 and up. There are also a variety of Semi-competitive and competitive programs offered. Kids Sports Eligible.
• Swimming – Cranbrook Tritons Swim club, has been running since the 70s and gives kids the chance to participate in a variety of non-competitive or competitive swimming programs. There are no age requirements, but it is recommended that your child completes Red Cross Level 4 before registering.

These are just a few of the sport options available in Cranbrook BC. Do your research! Get your kid involved in as many sports as possible. There’s a sport out there for everyone. Well that’s all for now, this is PE is the New Math signing out!

And we’re back for another post from PE is the new Math. Today, we’re touching on a hot topic in the world of education: incorporating First Peoples learning principles in the classroom. Specifically, how do we incorporate an indigenous perspective in PE class? This week will include how we can encourage indigenous principles in day-to-day physical and health education, as well as a few indigenous games you can play in your class (Important Note: Not all indigenous cultures and customs are versatile throughout Canada. It is important that you research the traditions of your local nation before teaching a first peoples-based lesson).

The Medicine Wheel

The first tip I offer for incorporating indigenous perspective in your classroom can be used daily. The medicine wheel (AKA. Sacred Hoop or the Wheel of Life) is an important symbol recognized by many indigenous tribes throughout North America. It signifies the cyclical and the interconnectedness of all things. Recognizing this interconnectedness helps us to strive for a good life for ourselves, our families, and all people (Manitoba First Nations Resources 2008 p.111). Each section of the medicine wheel represents a direction – North, West, South, East – and each state of being – mental, spiritual, physical, emotional. The importance of the circle is that all 4 quadrants have to be balanced and fulfilled to produce a happy and healthy life. What is interesting to me about the use of the medicine wheel in regards to exercise and health is the emphasis placed on the mind-body connection. In his book Spark, Dr. John J. Ratey speaks about this mind-body connection like it is a brand new invention, and in the world of the western science he speaks to it is! However, the medicine wheel provides direct evidence that this important practice that the colonial races of North America are just now realizing, has been a traditional practice of indigenous cultures across North America for centuries. So how do we bring this into the classroom? In his text, Physical and Health Education in Canada, Joe Barrett, suggests using this tool as a way of fostering self awareness in your students every day. Ask students how they feel they participated in each quadrant based on the given activity for that day. You can do this in groups, having each student mark on a scale of 1 to 10 on a white board, or individually by having each student mark how they feel on a paper handout. This simple mindful practice/assessment tool can be practiced daily. Make sure to discuss with your class the important significance of the medicine wheel, maybe even have a local elder come into your class to talk about it.

Indigenous Games

Below you will find two lesson plans for indigenous games sourced from the Physical and Health Education In Canada web resource. These activities are inspired by Blair Robillard, author of Kihcite Metawewina: Playing with a Great Heart, a collection for traditional and contemporary games played across Turtle Island.

School Wide Initiatives

In June of 2023, the Ktunaxa Nation and the College of the Rockies held a day of traditional sports. This initiative brought together folks of all backgrounds to compete in a fun and friendly environment and learn about the local knowledge and culture of the Ktunaxa people. Traditionally, games were used as ways of teaching survival and life skills. Now, these games are still played by the Ktunaxa people as a means of reconnecting with their culture. This Initiative could easily be recreated in your own school. June is the perfect month to do it as it is indigenous history month, but any time is a good time to incorporate culture into your classroom and school. Consider reaching out to your local nation or band and get in contact with local knowledge keepers and elders. Organize a day or half-day with your principle when you can have that elder attend your school, bring any required equipment, and teach staff and students in your school about significant indigenous games relevant to their culture.

Howdy pals! Here again on PE is the new Math. In post 2 we discussed how physical activity improves academic success, but what can sports do for supporting our student’s mental health? As it turns out, the effects of physical activity on the brain are astronomical and we can see so many positive results just from exercise. This includes an increase in cognitive function, decrease in depression and suicidal thoughts, improved self-confidence, improved memory and executive function and overall improved mental wellbeing.  Better Than Yesterday is an educational YouTube channel based around the idea of self-improvement.

This video on the benefits of physical activity and many more of Adam Del Duca’s videos are perfect resources for any classroom (But as always make sure to review a video in full before sharing with your class). But lets take a look at what Adam has to say about sports:

• Physical activity is an essential part of our lives. Though we spend so little time being physically active, we did not evolve this way. This is portrayed in our society through a grotesque increase in illness:
  • 65% of Americans are obese
  • 10% have type 2 diabetes
  • Inactivity is slowly killing or bodies and brains and physically making our brains smaller
• Benefits of physical activity include:
  • Increased brain mass
  • Improved ability learns and absorb information (Like we discussed in post #2)
  • Decrease depression and stress response
  • Prevent cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s
  • Stabilize mood through hormone balance in women
• If physical activity could come in a pill form, it would be the drug of the century
  • “Exercise is like taking a little bit of Prozac and a little bit of Ritalin” – Dr. John Ratey
• Exercise not only increases but balances neurotransmitters such as: serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine.
• Aerobic activity also increases Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor

While the Better Than Yesterday video summarizes that these positive benefits of physical activity only come from high-intensity aerobic activity (which he defines as getting your heart rate up to 80% of it maximum capacity). However, I would argue that there are also lots of benefits from anaerobic activities such as stretching and yoga. Not only will this make your body more fit for participating in aerobic activities, but it also has a lot of the same psychological benefits as aerobic activities such as a decrease in depression and anxiety. Here is a Ted Talk by Krishna Sudhir that dives deeper into this.